Ghost Boat Washes Ashore in Miramar Beach

What a spooky site when you first see this sail boat. No captain on board, sails are torn and the name is “Phantom of the Aqua.” When this sail boat first made its phantom voyage into our shores last weekend, it first washed up behind Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and then began drifting down […]

What a spooky site when you first see this sail boat. No captain on board, sails are torn and the name is “Phantom of the Aqua.” When this sail boat first made its phantom voyage into our shores last weekend, it first washed up behind Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort and then began drifting down the shore. It is now beached in front of the Surfside Resort in Miramar Beach, FL.

“Hurricane Nate was in the Gulf at that point, but I kept sailing, everything was going well,” Hale said. “And then my sail broke at sea, and at that point I didn’t have a sail and I didn’t have an engine and I didn’t have direction. So I was just drifting. I pulled out my map and in nine days I would have landed in Mexico, which would not have been an ideal outcome.”

So what happened and how did it get here? The owner has since been identified as, John Hale, a boat captain from Gulfport , Florida. He is alive and well and when he spoke to the Daily News by phone, Hale explained he had been attempting to sail the boat from his home in Gulfport, Florida to his previous home in the U.S. Virgin Islands to deliver food, medicine and supplies to the islands after they were battered by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Phantom’s Captain, John Hale stated that on his the way to the Virgin Islands, rough seas from Tropical Storm Nate forced him to abandon his ship. “Hurricane Nate was in the Gulf at that point, but I kept sailing, everything was going well,” Hale said. “And then my sail broke at sea, and at that point I didn’t have a sail and I didn’t have an engine and I didn’t have direction. So I was just drifting. I pulled out my map and in nine days I would have landed in Mexico, which would not have been an ideal outcome.” This hurricane had demolished is backup sails and the engine was not working so with no other choice, he was about 129 miles offshore when he radioed the U.S. Coast Guard and with a rescue helicopter they safely air lifted him out of the stormy sea. He never thought that he would ever see is boat again and that the ragging sea would claim it.

So when Captain John received a call last week, informing him that his boat was on the shores of Miramar Beach, FL he could not believe his ears. As for now, there is no date set for the removal of the boat from the beach.